The Tampa Bay Lightning controlled this game from start to finish, destroying the Islanders 8-0 to get within one win of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Here’s a few takeaways from the game:
1. Tampa Bay came right out of the gate and scored three goals in the first period to stun the Islanders early.
The Lightning took the lead just 45 seconds into the game after a shot by Alex Killorn ricocheted off Adam Pelech, and landed perfectly in front of Steven Stamkos, who scored on Semyon Varlamov to set up the 1-0 score.
2. Just over 10 minutes later, Yanni Gourde scored the game’s second goal after initially faking out Varlamov and shooting the puck off Andy Greene, where it went in between Varlamov’s skates and into the net.
3. Goal No. 3 came about five minutes later when David Savard sent a slapshot out right in front of Varlamov that bounced off Killorn and went under the goalies right leg and past the red line.
4. Barry Trotz tried to switch it up by bringing in Ilya Sorokin for Varlamov, but the Lightning got a power play in the second period and extended their lead to 4-0 on Stamkos’ second of the game — this time assisted by Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov.
5. Ondej Palat scored a wrist shot from the right and Killorn put in his second goal of the game just over two minutes later to make it a stunning 6-0 lead for the Lightning before the second period was even over.
6. Tampa put the icing on their Game 5 win cake by putting in two more goals in the third period. Braden Point extended his goal scoring streak to eight after taking a pass from Kucherow and ripping the puck into the net.
Then Luke Schenn came off the bench and put the final nail in the coffin by just taking a shot in the dark, sending the puck right into the middle, into Jordan Eberle‘s skate, and into the back of the net.
7. Tampa outshot the Islanders 40-21 — the key there came in the power play, as the Lightning picked up six opportunities, while the Isles had just one.